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Following is originally from an email by Making Change WalMart Organization.

On Black Friday, you stood with Walmart workers as they went on strike and took bold action to fight against Walmart’s attempts to silence them.

It looks like we have Walmart’s attention!

Last week the company announced that it will provide the opportunity for its workers who want to work full-time to do so and will make schedules more transparent. Inconsistent scheduling and not giving workers the hours they need to get by have placed a huge burden on tens-of-thousands of Walmart workers nationwide. If done right, Walmart’s pledge could have a positive impact on many lives and set an example for other employers.

“I’m so happy and proud our hard work and action has paid off,” said Cindy Murray, a leader of the worker-led Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). “We won these gains at my store and now we’re winning them across the country.”

This announcement comes as a huge victory in the lives of workers. These changes have been at the heart of OUR Walmart members’ calls since its creation and come on the heels of the largest nationwide strike Walmart had ever seen. Walmart’s response shows that together, we’re doing what many said was impossible – we are changing Walmart!

We hope that you will stand with us as we hold Walmart to this new commitment and continue to call for much needed changes in how the company treats workers throughout its supply chain.

The Pussy Riot trial began in Moscow on Monday. Three young women charged with “hooliganism” now face up to seven years’ imprisonment. Why? Because their punk rock band gave a politically charged and impromptu performance poking fun at President Putin at a cathedral.

But don’t judge these women too harshly. At least that’s what Putin said himself in a stunning statement Thursday: “There is nothing good in what they did [but] I don’t think they should be judged too severely.”

However, Putin’s words have not yet translated into action. Seven years incarceration is still a very real possibility. Our sources inside Russia tell us that the trial may wrap up as early as next Wednesday, August 15, and some signs are pointing in the direction of sending the women off to a labor camp.

Say what you will about Pussy Riot: this may not be your kind of music. Some people find their shows offensive.

But it doesn’t change the facts: Since March, these young women have been in jail and kept from their families, including small children, and they are being threatened with seven years imprisonment – all because of a peaceful protest song that lasted less than a minute.

Amnesty International considers these women to be prisoners of conscience, and we are not going to give up on them. Sadly, members of Pussy Riot aren’t the only ones getting caught up in the backlash against dissidents in Russia lately. One of Putin’s fiercest critics, blogger Alexei Navalny, was charged this week with embezzlement, a crime that could carry up to a 10-year prison sentence.

The crackdown doesn’t stop there. In recent weeks, President Putin and his cronies have moved swiftly to limit street protests by enforcing hefty fines and re-criminalizing some forms of defamation.

Oppression thrives in silence. That is why we must loudly demand that Russian authorities free Pussy Riot now!

Some high-profile musicians are also taking action in solidarity. During recent concerts in Russia, rockers Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand all called on the Russian authorities to free Pussy Riot and respect freedom of expression. Madonna, Peter Gabriel and Pete Townshend of The Who have voiced their support, too, while Björk has invited other members of Pussy Riot to join her on tour.

Now that even President Putin has flinched at the punishment Pussy Riot is facing, it won’t be long now before the court in Moscow faces the music that world leaders, celebrities and activists alike are already chanting with passion and pride:

Pharr, TX – Occupy McAllen, as part of a global day of action, will rally outside the Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase banks located near the intersection of Jackson Road and Jackson Avenue in Pharr, on Friday, November 11th, at 5:00 pm. The largest banks in the US earned $34 billion in profit in the first half of this year, nearly matching what they earned in the same period in 2007 before the financial crisis happened. Wall Street firms paid about $20.8 billion in bonuses in 2010, while the average American still suffers from Wall Street’s greed, facing unemployment, foreclosures, and increasing impoverishment.

Occupy McAllen is participating in this global day to protest against an unjust economic system rigged against working people. But the protest is also in defense of the First Amendment right to assembly which has been violently challenged by mayors and the police in several cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, and Oakland. In Oakland, the police department violently dismantled Occupy Oakland’s encampment, and aggressively attacked peaceful protestors with tear gas, billy clubs, and flash grenades. Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran participating in Occupy Oakland, was struck on October 25 with a police projectile and has sustained brain damage.

Occupy McAllen is marching in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world, especially where they are under violent attack, as in Oakland, and to demand the US government respect and enforce the US Bill of Rights protecting our right to assemble.

Early this morning, I watched more than 500 riot police descend on the peaceful protestors of Occupy Oakland with tear gas, bean bag rounds and the booming Long Range Acoustic Device. There were dozens of arrests. And Oakland isn’t alone. Occupy movements are under assault in many cities. Tolerating the violation of our First Amendment rights in one place endangers them everywhere else.

We must have a national movement to defend our First Amendment rights. Sign the petition.

Send the message to the mayor and police chief of Oakland and other cities that we have a right to free speech, to free assembly, and to petition our government for a redress of grievances.

These rights do not create themselves. We must defend them vigilantly and eternally.

This morning, Occupy Wall Street protesters celebrated when New York authorities beat a last-minute retreat from clearing Liberty Plaza – as hundreds of labor and other activists rushed to defend the square.

But at the same time this morning, dozens of state troopers in riot gear cleared out Occupy Denver protests. In cities across the country, Occupy protesters have faced police violence and arrests. Some occupations have been forcibly removed while others have stood their ground successfully.

The authorities say we don’t have the proper permits to occupy public spaces. Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment.

Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest.

We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.

And then view the powerful “I Am Not Moving” videothat exposes Washington’s hypocrisy in applauding occupations in the Middle East, while force and violence are used against nonviolent protesters across our land.